I have been feeling the same way larry has for a while now. Yes the argument of stocks/futures/options all in one place at decent cost argument is sound. But the leader in every industry should have its merits tested, as consumers can tend to assume that they are getting the best deal just because of that #1 status. I trade only equities, and I haven't come across a firm who's pros outweighs their cons more than IB. But I doesn't mean I will stop looking.
Not even close for retail traders - Genesis. However, I am not sure that the rates they advertised a while back on ET are still being offered today. You have to negotiate with Serge. Being able to get .005 per share for all shares today should be the norm for a competitive firm even for small volume. If you get licensed and go to a pro firm and do decent volume, getting down to .004 or even .002 per share is not unheard of. IB's $1.00 for all shares up to 500 is well below average now. The .005 for shares after 500 is a little above average. In short, IB is at best average today in stock comissions, and well below average in US SIFs comissions, and smart firms are taking market share away from them slowly. nitro
Hi Nitro I had to close my IB account because I got locked out of the TWS and couldn't get back in until I upgraded my operating system. I called Genesis but all I got was an operator that I couldn't understand. I asked her to connect me with technical support so I could tell if my system would support their trading platform. She said just a minute and then left me hanging there. I called back again and she answered again and did the same damn thing. On the surface, I find it hard to take these people seriously particularly when 25k+ of my money is at stake. I presume that you have an account with Genesis and if you do, have you every tried to get any of it back. Thanks for the reply. I need an account but I'm really worried about these people.
-well below average in US SIFs comissions- for stock index futures do you mean bundled or unbundled commissions? plus do the other firms that offer e mini stock index futures offer gold , silver , crude oil , notes , bonds , single stock futures , brent oil , forex both spot and futures like IB ?
Hi hoodooman, That is strange. While I agree that Genesis employess seem to be out smoking a large percentage of their day, I have always been able to reach an operator. Don't thake this to mean that I don't believe what happened to you - I do. Here is what I recommend. Talk to Ross Siegel at http://www.avidustrading.com/ These guys are somehow tied to Genesis and will honor any rates that Genesis may offer. Their retail side is also SIPC, but always do your diligent homework. They seem legit and are local to me. I do know that the level of service you get is very tied to the comission you pay. If you want rock bottom comission, you get little or no service. If you want a human being on call, you have to pay a higher comission. A great compromise between those two extremes exist, and IB used to be it. Now firms like RedSky Securities http://www.redskysecurities.com (talk to Stefano Durdic) sit somewhere between IB and Genesis in the spectrum of service vs comissions. And others are popping up all the time. nitro
I mean bundled or unbundled. No, if you want that level of access to entire possibility of markets, you are pretty much stuck with IB. However, you would be surprised how many of those instruments can be traded at 90% of all firms. That is why I said US SIFs. But it applies equally to most of what you mention above...Only one way to find out, pick up the phone and start researching... nitro